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Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the View That the Main Function of the Education System Is to Reproduce and Legitimise Social Inequalities. (20 Marks)

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Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that the main function of the education system is to reproduce and legitimise social inequalities. (20 marks)
The education system is one of the most influential institutions in our society, as it 'breeds' children knowledge and skills from a very young age (4-5) all the way to young adulthood (16-18), through set lessons or through the hidden curriculum. Education is said to supply a capitalist society with a perfect workforce by ensuring, for example, working class student do working class jobs. For the Marxist, education is seen as an important part of the superstructure of society. It is believed to serve the needs of the economic base; this base shapes the superstructure, while the superstructure maintains the base. It is believed by Marx that education performs two main functions in a capitalist society; it reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of capitalist society and it serves to legitimate these inequalities through the myths of meritocracy, instead of education being merely to teach pupils skills such as literacy and numeracy and to teach common values. On the other hand, Functionalists argue that education has three broad functions in society; socialization (education is said to help maintain society by socializing young people into key cultural values); skill provision (Education teaches the skills required by a modern society); and role allocation (Education allocation people to the most appropriate jobs for their talents, using examinations and qualification).
'Symbolic violence' was the term used by Bourdieu (1977) to describe the means by which the working classes are effectively duped into accepting their failure and limited social mobility. As a result their cultural attributes are rejected because the system is defined by, and for, the middle-classes who succeed

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